Synopsis: Daje Shelton, a 17-year-old girl from St. Louis, wants to do the right thing. But growing up in a tough neighborhood, she can’t catch a break: she’s struggling in school, been court ordered to attend a school for troubled youth, distracted by boys, and surrounded by a culture of violence and brutality. Nevertheless, she learns from her commanding mother and endeavors to grow up with grace and determination. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, provides a powerful backdrop for this masterfully crafted portrait of working-class urban life entrenched in poverty and systematic racism. “This verité doc about a St. Louis teen offers compellingly humane proof of the fact that Black lives matter.” —IndieWire

Daje exemplifies the awareness and insight many Black teenagers bring to the unique challenges of their lives; how they are in constant dialogue about how to process, survive, and transcend the violence and other systemic obstructions put in their paths. Through Daje’s inner world and day-to-day experiences,For Ahkeem provides an important window into the complexities of growing up with this trauma, and aims to highlight the urgent, devastating consequences of being a Black teenager in America today. — Directors Jeremy S. Levine & Landon Van Soest